"VESSEL..."
The voice bypassed the ears entirely and manifested directly in the mind.
Eirik took another step forward.
"COMMANDER, STOP!" Olaf bellowed.
The entity noticed. All its eyes—every single one—swiveled to focus on Eirik. Several fleeing pilgrims who caught the edge of that gaze collapsed, blood running from their noses.
"No..." Leif's voice cracked. "...
2025-09-29 09:31:15 +0000 UTC View PostEirik's mind raced as he descended.
He had an answer, yes, but they appeared to be more than a conduit than the real thing. To corner them and interrogate directly, would have been a fool's errand.
The entity would have sensed the trap, severed its connection, and abandoned its host, leaving Eirik with nothing but a mindless husk. No, the thing pulling the strings had to believe it ...
2025-09-29 09:26:25 +0000 UTC View PostHi friends!
Effective immediately, I'm pausing all billing. The Patreon will remain active, and you'll continue to have access to all content, but you won't be charged until I can commit to daily updates again.
I will still be updating The Invincible Bastard, hopefully twice a week. Keep in mind that month-end periods are particular...
2025-09-28 15:47:23 +0000 UTC View PostHi everyone,
It's been a month back at my day job, and as I feared, it has impacted my writing. Many of you have noted the recent chapters feel rushed, and you're right. The drop in our membership reflects this, and while it pains me to see people go, I completely understand. You deserve quality content at a consistent schedule.
To those of you who have stayed: your continued suppor...
2025-09-28 07:27:16 +0000 UTC View PostCrimson light washed over the courtyard.
Pilgrims screamed. Talons staggered back, shields raised against a threat they couldn’t strike.
I am an idiot.
Eirik thought to himself. He’d walked them straight to the precipice. The enemy hadn’t just hidden; it had steered him. His urgency was its weapon.
[Settlement Progress: Tutorial Quest #7]<...
2025-09-26 07:06:07 +0000 UTC View PostThe prison was a side fissure splitting away from the main network.
Cells had been crudely fashioned here. Scavenged metal bars were wedged between natural pillars of rock or anchored into hastily chiseled sockets. Straw was the only bedding.
A single cell stood apart.
Inside, hunched on the cold stone floor, was Rurik Stormcrow. He flinched as Eirik’s torchlight, revealing ...
2025-09-21 05:54:04 +0000 UTC View PostThe massive ice statue of the Frost Mother dominated the space.
Twin rivulets of vibrant crimson wept from the statue’s eyes, tracing blood paths down the ice cheeks. From the open palms held in blessing, more blood dripped steadily, staining the pristine ice around its base in grotesque blooms.
It wasn't a trickle.
Pilgrims wailed, tearing at their clothes, beating their ch...
2025-09-18 05:28:24 +0000 UTC View Post"Shut the door, Olaf."
Sindri, Yorick, Isolde, Olaf, and Leif stood clustered near the massive table inside the same chamber where he had met with Borin and Varina. This room surely was getting more and more busy by the day.
The big man slammed the timber shut that made dust sift from the ceiling.
"The Frost Mother," Eirik began, "works in ways we barely comprehend. Her statue...
2025-09-16 08:54:43 +0000 UTC View PostThe courtyard had emptied.
Mara had left with the Varina and the remaining templars. Borin tried to get comfortable with the cave dwellings but failed, so he was also gone.
A few faithful lingered even after Eirik's carefully orchestrated speech about unity between Abercrombie and the true Order, about Sister Mara's intervention as proof of the Frost Mother's justice. They wanted to...
2025-09-12 08:50:45 +0000 UTC View PostHe was halfway up the main access tunnel when a hand touched his good elbow.
"Commander."
He turned sharply. It was Mara.
"You should be at the healing station," Eirik managed. "People need you."
"They do," Mara's gaze dropped to the frost-encased arm. "But you need me more. And we need to talk. Privately."
There was no room for argument in her tone.
Eirik no...
2025-09-10 06:38:18 +0000 UTC View PostThe cold granite of the meeting room table bit into Eirik’s good arm as he leaned heavily against it.
The familiar chamber felt alien now. Hours ago, it had been the stage for his apparent surrender. Now, he inhabited the same space, yet a different world entirely.
He flexed the fingers of his left hand. They obeyed, though stiffness lingered. His right arm, however, hung useless ...
2025-09-08 10:53:19 +0000 UTC View PostHer? Here?
The refugee woman who had begged Eirik for her son's life was transformed. The exhaustion, the desperation, the supplicant's posture – all were gone. Her gaze was fixed on the hovering priestess.
"Sister Varina. Do you understand what you are doing?"
The use of the title "Sister" sent a ripple through the remaining templars struggling against the mob.
Eirik ...
2025-09-05 08:49:28 +0000 UTC View PostHundreds of pilgrims, refugees, Talons, and Flint's men packed the courtyard below the towering ice statue of the Frost Mother. Torchlight flickered against the serene ice, casting dancing shadows that felt like watching spirits.
Eirik Stormcrow stood center stage.
"People of Abercrombie!" Eirik voice boomed across the frozen courtyard. "Look around you! See who graces our frozen sa...
2025-09-05 08:41:12 +0000 UTC View PostHi everyone!
I wanted to let you know that I've rewritten chapters forty-eight through fifty-seven, essentially the entire Fort Abercrombie reclamation arc. I felt there were too many missed opportunities: Leif and Olaf didn't get their moment to shine, I gave Eirik his victory too easily, and several other things.
Feel free to give it a look!
This was done in light of a large...
2025-09-03 12:01:10 +0000 UTC View Post[Daily Absorb Limit: 0/2000 MF - Reset in 00:16:52]
"Commander?" Leif finally burst out. "You can't... are you sure? Giving everything away? Now? To...?"
Eirik stopped abruptly. He deliberately avoided looking at Rurik, focusing entirely on the young Fenrir heir.
"Yes, Leif," Eirik gestured limply towards Rurik. "Yes. The Order has decided. My... abilities... require guidance....
2025-09-03 08:06:21 +0000 UTC View PostThe chamber he’d chosen for this… negotiation… was one he’d initially carved as a private meeting space – the same room where he’d confronted Varn and Flint.
It felt painfully inadequate now.
Carved directly from the bedrock, its only furnishing was the massive granite table he’d absorbed and smoothed himself, surrounded by similarly crude stone benches. A few more lan...
2025-09-03 05:45:10 +0000 UTC View Post[Settlement Progress: Tutorial Quest #7]
[Time Remaining: 2 days, 12 hours]
[Goals:]
[- Defined Borders - COMPLETE]
[- Habitable Structures - 58.5% Complete]
[- Population 1,000 - COMPLETE]
[- Income Source - 75.3%]
[- Basic Defenses - COMPLETE]
[Mana Fragments: 9200/10,000]
[Daily Absorb Limit: 0/2000 MF - Reset in 2 hours]
Absorb res...
2025-08-29 02:09:29 +0000 UTC View PostHe found Isolde near the statue's base.
Her eyes were fixed on a small group of people gathered a few yards away. At the center knelt Mara, the refugee woman from the payment line. Held in her arms was her small son who shook violently.
"Isolde?" Eirik kept his voice low. "What's wrong? Where's the Order?"
"They haven't arrived," Isolde turned to him. "Yet. But something else ...
2025-08-27 06:54:30 +0000 UTC View PostEirik winced as cold granite dust stinging his eyes.
[MANA FRAGMENTS +200]
[MANA FRAGMENTS: 9,200/10,000]
Eirik acknowledged the System notification without really seeing it. His focus was taken by the cavern opening up before him.
He'd been carving out this space space for a long time. The space was needed – desperately. The surface w...
2025-08-27 02:50:16 +0000 UTC View PostThey came.
Not in the neat lines Yorick's hopeful plans had suggested, but in waves. Great waves of people, driven by the unbelievable whisper carried by every passing trader, every running refugee, every bard who'd seen the Frost Mother's touch: Abercrombie.
Eirik stood on top of the strengthened ice wall looking over the main path. Three days had past since the Statue was...
2025-08-25 04:28:51 +0000 UTC View PostEirik Stormcrow sat bent over a rough table carved directly from the granite. His boots were muddy. Fisk had tried to get him to change, but Eirik had waved him off.
The air down here lacked the sharp bite of the wind above. It also lacked the stench that made Fisk wrinkle his nose every time he walked past the mushroom growing area. Eirik had set up the first three rooms in a rough line ...
2025-08-23 21:12:34 +0000 UTC View PostLord Dagan Varn shifted uncomfortably in his saddle. The ice walls of Fort Abercrombie loomed before him.
Impressive, yes. Undeniably so. But cold. Very, very cold.
He pulled his thick wool cloak tighter. Beside him, Lord Arctus Flint snorted derisively. His own mount, a heavy-bred destrier, stamped impatiently.
"Ice walls, Varn? Pretty baubles, I'll grant you. But where's the...
2025-08-21 21:20:50 +0000 UTC View PostThe faint light of midday did nothing to warm the yard where the refugees huddled for their ration. The queue stretched from the door of the makeshift storehouse made of ice. Leif Fenrir stood beside Yorick's trestle table, who was crossing names off his ledger.
"One scoop barley meal. Quarter ladle rendered fat. Salt pinch." Yorick addressed a woman as she held out a cracked bowl.
...
2025-08-19 21:17:51 +0000 UTC View PostSince Rurik left, Eirik'd tried to lose himself in his daily grind—checking the sawmills, inspecting the quarry, absorbing fragments from every scrap of debris he could find. But they only worked to amplify the problem: He was moving too slowly.
"Commander."
A voice interrupted him. The scent of pine needles told him who it was. Eirik turned.
Isolde Fenrir stood ...
2025-08-18 12:57:59 +0000 UTC View PostHi guys!
Yesterday I was alerted that this story had been featured in the Rising Stars section on Royal Road. I couldn't believe it, so I went to the page and scrolled until I was at the bottom. And lo and behold, this story was there! It was at the the seventh to last spot, but FROST'S FROZEN BALLS, it was there!
I am grateful.
This is not me throwing banal p...
2025-08-17 17:51:32 +0000 UTC View PostThree days.
Three days of grinding ice from dawn until his vision swam and collapsed into fitful sleeps. Three days of absorbing every scrap of potential fragment-yielding detritus within the fortress walls. Three days of pushing his new archery skill to C-minus level until every muscle started protesting.
Yet, three days also saw Abercrombie begin to find its feet.
Eirik stoo...
2025-08-17 17:07:36 +0000 UTC View PostLeif knew that look from Eirik when he hit a wall. Commander probably tried to build something out there and failed, Leif deduced, seeing the residue of expended mana around Eirik.
"Leif," Eirik approached. "Olaf. Situation report. Now."
"Commander. We processed 247 refugees with another 50 reported straggling up the pass. The shelters are... packed. Tempers are fraying. The Frostho...
2025-08-16 12:00:40 +0000 UTC View PostFocus intent. Physical proximity to resource. Command absorption.
His gaze fell on a stack of broken wooden beams salvaged from a collapsed storeroom. Useful fuel, already hauled in by his freezing people. Worth a try. He approached the pile, maybe the height of a man. Good seasoned pine.
He placed his hand on a thick beam.
Absorb.
The beam under his ha...
2025-08-15 11:55:06 +0000 UTC View PostThe whispers had started in Frostholme’s fetid alleys and snow-choked inns. They spread along frozen trade routes, carried by desperate refugees and wide-eyed peddlers.
And the rumors were insane.
The Bastard Stormcrow reclaimed Fort Abercrombie and shattered a whole Skarl warband led by the fearsome Grakk'Thor. Then, he built walls of ice in a single breath, and promised every ma...
2025-08-15 11:49:02 +0000 UTC View PostThis place is a wreck, Eirik thought, scanning the devastation. Half the walls had crumbled sections where stones had been pulled out for who knows what purpose. The barracks roof had caved in under snow weight. The armory was a blackened shell. Even the central keep had gaping holes.
"Commander," Leif approached. His face was pale from blood loss. "We've secured the prisoners. E...
2025-08-14 09:15:24 +0000 UTC View Post